[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2354 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2354

To amend the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act to provide 
     a definition of recreational vessel for purposes of such Act.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 4, 2017

Mr. Byrne (for himself, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Grothman, Mr. Francis Rooney of 
 Florida, Mr. Mitchell, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. Deutch, 
 and Ms. Frankel of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was 
        referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act to provide 
     a definition of recreational vessel for purposes of such Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Longshore and Harbor Workers' 
Compensation Clarification Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF RECREATIONAL VESSEL.

    (a) Definition.--Section 2 of the Longshore and Harbor Workers' 
Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 902) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (22) as paragraph (23); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (21) the following:
            ``(22)(A) The term `recreational vessel' means a vessel--
                    ``(i) being manufactured or operated primarily for 
                pleasure; or
                    ``(ii) leased, rented, or chartered to another for 
                the latter's pleasure.
            ``(B) In applying the definition in subparagraph (A), the 
        following rules apply:
                    ``(i) A vessel being manufactured or built, or 
                being repaired under warranty by its manufacturer or 
                builder, is a recreational vessel if the vessel appears 
                intended, based on its design and construction, to be 
                for ultimate recreational uses. The manufacturer or 
                builder bears the burden of establishing that a vessel 
                is recreational under this standard.
                    ``(ii) A vessel being repaired, dismantled for 
                repair, or dismantled at the end of its life will be 
                treated as recreational at the time of repair, 
                dismantling for repair, or dismantling, provided that 
                such vessel shares elements of design and construction 
                of traditional recreational vessels and is not normally 
                engaged in a military, commercial, or traditionally 
                commercial undertaking.
                    ``(iii) A vessel will be treated as a recreational 
                vessel if it is a public vessel, such as a vessel owned 
                or chartered and operated by the United States, or by a 
                State or political subdivision thereof, at the time of 
                repair, dismantling for repair, or dismantling, 
                provided that such vessel shares elements of design and 
                construction with traditional recreational vessels and 
                is not normally engaged in a military, commercial, or 
                traditionally commercial undertaking.''.
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall revise the 
regulations in section 701.501 of title 20, Code of Federal 
Regulations, by deleting the text of subsections (a) and (b) of such 
section and replacing it with only the text of the definition of 
recreational vessel in section 2(22) of the Longshore and Harbor 
Workers' Compensation Act, as added by subsection (a).
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